As he chases is fourth Dakar title, Red Bull KTM’s Marc Coma took his second stage victory Tuesday at Dakar 2014, which will take riders 5427 miles through Argentina, Bolivia and Chile.

Stage 9 was held mostly in the sand, and was considered a key stage in the Rally as riders had to navigate through soft sand for 280 miles from Calama and Iquique (18-mile liaison; 262-mile special).

By stage end, Coma finished once again ahead over a minute ahead of his rival all Dakar, three-time stage winner Joan Barreda on the Team HRC Honda CRF 450 Rally. But Barreda was penalized 15 minutes, and slipped back to ninth in the stage, 16 minutes 58 seconds behind Coma.

Overall, Coma now has an over 55-minute lead ahead of Bort, and almost two hours on KTM’s Jordi Viladoms. As for five-time Dakar winner Despres, he is in eighth, 2 hours 30 minutes behind Coma with four stages remaining.

Speaking of stage 9, the official Dakar report says:

“Announced as one of the key stages on this 36th edition, the 422-km long 9th special stage between Calama and Iquique especially allowed Marc Coma to gain even more psychological superiority over the rest of the field. The third to start this morning, behind Barreda and Despres, the Catalan three times winner soon caught up with his adversaries to ride the stage in their company, demonstrating his control of the race.

“In the end, Coma won his second stage in 2014 and his 23rd on the Dakar, 1’21” ahead of his countryman and second placed rider in the general standings, Joan Barreda, and 5’28” in front of Cyril Despres, the title holder, who was slowed at the end of the special stage by the fear of running out of petrol in the dunes, forced to keep an eye on his consumption (but Barreda was later penalized).

“Behind the top 3, the day was again marked by the problems of Alain Duclos, this time betrayed by a valve on his Sherco and obliged to be towed to the bivouac behind his team-mate Francisco Errazuriz. The Franco-Malian therefore loses all hopes of a good result in the general standings, the summit of which is still just as serenely occupied by Marc Coma, who increases his lead over Joan Barreda to 40’19”.

“The icing on the cake for the Catalan is that the misfortunes of Duclos allow his water carrier Jordi Viladoms, sixth today, to enjoy a little more breathing space in third position in the general standings with a lead of 28’21” over the consistently regular Chilean Jeremias Israel Esquerre. Engaged in a frantic climb up the general standings, Cyril Despres gained another place today and is currently in 8th position, but sill almost 2 hours and 30 minutes from leader Marc Coma. Finally, a special mention should go to Laia Sanz, the leading lady in the general standings, who recorded a fantastic 9th best time of the day.”

Check out the stage-action action during the “Dakar Rally Series,” which will air on NBC Sports Network at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 15.

Marc Coma (Red Bull KTM 450 Rally) says: “It was a complicated stage in the Atacama Desert. Very nice and very fast at the beginning, but on the last part we found some dunes. I tried to catch Joan, because he started two minutes in front of me. When I caught up with him I tried to follow to ride together to the end. It was a good day for me.”

Joan Barreda Bort (Team HRC Honda CRF450 Rally) says: “It was a very complicated stage. I started very quickly, but Marc (Coma) accelerated and caught up with me in the dunes at the end of the stage.

“I’m happy, because I did the best I can, I really did. There are two very hard days left. I’m going to carry on at the same pace. Tomorrow I’ll be opening the way, but I’m happy with the work that I’m doing.”
Helder Rodrigues (Team HRC Honda CRF450 Rally) says: “It was good for me. I pushed, even if I knew that Cyril, Joan and Marc were fast, but I also pushed to make up time on the other riders.

“At the finish I rode everything alone. It’s difficult because when you’re alone you have to decide everything by yourself, but I did some good navigation, not so fast but good. I’m happy to be here and have finished one day more. It was very long. The downhill, when you finish, is very nice.”

Cyril Despres (Red Bull KTM 450 Rally) says: “As the organizers say, a day with a lot of everything, a lot of navigation and a lot of rios. There was a quite nice track that was twisty until the 200 km point. It was nice, with nice skids and nice corners.

“Then we arrived in the part that is a little bit more complicated for the hands, wrists and arms. It was really bumpy with a lot of rocks. It was demanding, but everything like this, to arrive here via this descent, well, it’s a nice place to be.”

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